1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multifunction timepiece having pointers for displaying the standard time as well as pointers for displaying chronograph time, temperature, and other such information other than the standard time.
2. Background Information
Recently the demand has been growing for multifunction displays that display the time information of chronographs, alarms, timers, and the like as well as temperature, pressure, humidity, and other such information not only in digital electronic timepieces but also in analog electronic timepieces (pointer type electronic timepieces), and various multifunction analog timepieces are becoming commercially available.
In these multifunction analog timepieces, pointers for chronographs, alarms, and other such added functional displays are provided in addition to an hour hand, minute hand, and seconds hand for showing the standard time or other such pointers for displaying standard time (pointers for basic timepieces).
Therefore, it has been necessary to dispose the pointers in the time display section of the timepiece so that they do not interfere with each other. The time display section is the region separated by nonessential components such as the inner peripheral surface of the case for holding the periphery of the dial, and is the region in which the dial can be seen.
Therefore, with multifunction timepieces having a chronograph function, for example, normally the rotating shafts of the hour hand and minute hand for displaying the standard time are disposed in the center of the time display section (for example, the time display section is the center position of the circle in a common flat circular multifunction timepiece, or is positioned at the point of intersection of the diagonals in a flat rectangular time display section, and normally coincides with the barycentric position of the dial), and the rotating shaft of the second chronograph hand (seconds CG hand) for the chronograph function is disposed on the same axis.
Also, a small seconds hand for displaying seconds in standard time, and a minute chronograph hand (minute CG hand) and an hour chronograph hand (hour CG hand) for a chronograph may be provided as pointers (auxiliary pointers) whose rotating shafts are disposed other than in the center of the time display section (for example, see “JP-A 61-83991, referred to hereinbelow as Patent Literature 1”).
Other examples include those wherein pointers with rotating shafts disposed at the center of the time display section are not provided, but the hour hand, minute hand, and seconds hand for displaying the standard time are disposed below the center position of the time display section (the 6:00 side in a regular timepiece), the 1/10th seconds CG hand is disposed to the left of the center of the time display section (the 9:00 side in a regular timepiece), the seconds CG hand is disposed above the center position of the time display section (the 12:00 side in a regular timepiece), the hour CG hand is disposed to the right of the center position of the time display section (the 3:00 section in a regular timepiece), and the standard time display section and chronograph display section are disposed so as not to overlap each other (for example, see WO99/54792, hereinbelow referred to as Patent Literature 2).
However, the electronic timepiece with a chronograph function cited in the above-mentioned Patent Literature 1 has problems in that the user has difficulty distinguishing the hands because the pointers for standard time display and the pointers for chronograph display overlap, and particularly the seconds CG hand and the minute and hour hands for standard time display overlap in a coaxial manner. Another problem is that since three pointers are disposed on the same axis, the thickness of the electronic timepiece increases because a gear train or the like for driving the pointers is also disposed in the center of the time display section in an overlapping manner.
The electronic timepiece with a chronograph function cited in the above-mentioned Patent Literature 2 is made easier for the user to read because the standard time display section and chronograph display section are positioned independently so as not to overlap. However, problems have been encountered in that the dimensions of the pointers are reduced and the display sections as a whole are smaller and more difficult to see.
Such problems are not limited to timepieces with chronograph functions but are also common in multifunction timepieces having pointers for displaying the time information of alarms, timers, and the like, as well as temperature, pressure, humidity, and other such information.
Also, electric motor-driven electronic timepieces are driven by electric power supplied from a regular battery, but other timepieces have become known in recent years. These timepieces are provided with power-generating devices in consideration for the need to dispense with battery replacement, to improve ease of use, and make the products more environmentally friendly by incorporating types in which power is generated by rotating a rotor with an oscillating weight or a coil spring, as well as solar batteries and other such power generators.
For example, multifunction timepieces incorporating a power generator that utilizes an oscillating weight are becoming known among analog electric timepieces (pointer type electric timepieces) having a chronograph function (for example, see FIG. 13 of the aforementioned Patent Literature 2).
In a timepiece with a power-generating device, it is necessary to incorporate a secondary battery for storing the power generated by the power generator in a movement.
This movement may, for example, have a bottom plate, an electric motor or gear train for driving the pointers, a circuit holder for supporting the gear train or the like, a gear train support, a printed circuit board on which an IC or the like is mounted, a power generator, a secondary battery, and the like. When the movement is assembled, normally the aforementioned components are stacked in order from the components of the dial (normally the bottom plate) to the components of the back cover.
Specifically, the movement is assembled by mounting the circuit holder on the bottom plate, disposing the gear train, electric drive motor, secondary battery, or the like thereon, and sequentially layering the gear train support, the printed circuit board, and the like. In other words, a single-layer structure wherein the components constituting the movement are disposed between the bottom plate and the gear train support and printed circuit board has conventionally been used. Therefore, the configuration is such that the secondary battery is disposed on the dial side of the printed circuit board (first layer), simplifying the conductive structure of the secondary battery and the printed circuit board.
However, when the secondary battery is disposed on the dial side of the printed circuit board (first layer), the secondary battery is already mounted by the time components such as the gear train and printed circuit board are incorporated into the assembly.
Therefore, the electrical conduction from the secondary battery must be cut off when the circuits are electrically inspected after the components are assembled. In a common design, therefore, a component such as a positive terminal is incorporated last, and caution must be taken to prevent the secondary battery from becoming conductive during the assembly steps.
Therefore, problems have been encountered in that the design of the movement becomes complicated, workability of assembly is reduced, and it is difficult to improve productivity of the movement.
In the particular case of a large number of pointers, as in a multifunction timepiece with a chronograph function, an electric motor, gear train, and other such components for driving the pointers must be incorporated, and problems have been encountered in the sense that it is difficult to design a movement in which a positive terminal can be incorporated last and that the movement is difficult to assemble.
Also, when the secondary battery is disposed in the same layer as the electric motor or gear train, the flat space capable of accommodating the secondary battery is reduced and an extremely flat secondary battery must be utilized. Extremely flat secondary batteries cannot be efficiently charged due to significant internal resistance.
Such problems are extremely pronounced in a timepiece with a rotary-weight power generator in which an oscillating weight, power generator, or other such components must be mounted, because of the need to take into account the manner in which these components are mounted, and the problems related to the incorporation of a secondary battery are common to other timepieces with other types of power generators.
Also, a chronograph timepiece with an analog display, which is a typical example of a multifunction timepiece, has a second chronograph hand, a minute chronograph hand, and other such chronograph hands, and a start button provided to the timepiece is operated to start time measurement. In other words, operating the start button causes the drive force from the drive source to be transmitted to the chronograph wheels with chronograph hands, and the wheels start moving. Operating a stop button terminates the time measurement, stops the chronograph hands, and causes the measured time to be displayed by the chronograph hands.
Many conventional chronograph timepieces are designed with a common start and stop button, and the start and stop functions can be alternately repeated. A reset button is also provided separately from the start and stop button in conventional chronograph timepieces. When the chronograph hands are stopped, operating the reset button causes the chronograph hands to return to the zero position (hereinafter described as “reset to zero”). When the hands are reset to zero, the electronic circuits controlling the driving of the chronograph are simultaneously reset, and the chronograph timepiece reaches a state awaiting the next start.
Other electronic chronograph timepieces include those that have independent electric motors for the second chronograph wheel and the minute chronograph wheel, wherein the electric motors are controlled by electronic circuits to start, stop, and return the wheels to zero.
However, this configuration requires electric motors for the plurality of chronograph wheels, which increases the number of components and complicates the structure. Also, when a wheel is reset to zero with an electric motor, the length of time needed to reset the wheel to zero increases for some of the stopping positions of the chronograph hands because the electric motor is driven at a determined step rate to reset to zero.
On the other hand, the mechanical resetting structures used in conventional mechanical timepieces have merits in that resetting to zero can be performed instantaneously regardless of the stopping position of the chronograph hands. Therefore, chronograph timepieces are being proposed wherein the mechanical resetting structure used in a mechanical timepiece is combined with electronic control.
The mechanism for mechanically resetting the chronograph hands to zero has a structure wherein the hands are reset to zero by pressing a heart-cam provided to the chronograph wheel for holding the chronograph hands and displaying the elapsed time. Structures with operating cams are sometimes used in this case in order to be able to control the start, stop, and reset states in a stable manner while providing a satisfactory feel when the mechanism is operated (for example, see pages 3 through 8 of the aforementioned Patent Literature 2).
The operating cam in Patent Literature 2 has a toothed gear section and shaft sections, and the rotary position of the operating cam is controlled by means of an operating cam jumper. The operating cam is turned one pitch at a time by pressing the start and stop button, and the start and stop states are established by defining two positions: a position at which the tip of the operating lever touches the wall of a shaft section of the operating cam, and a position between the adjacent shaft sections. During resetting, a return-to-zero transmission hammer is moved by pushing a reset button to reset to zero, but the tip of a second return-to-zero transmission hammer comes into contact with a shaft section of the operating cam when the timepiece has been started, and the timepiece cannot be reset to zero. When the timepiece is stopped, the tip of the second return-to-zero transmission hammer comes between the shaft sections of the operating cam and assumes a positional relationship whereby the timepiece can be reset to zero. In such a configuration, the three conditions of start, stop, and reset are established with the controlled positions of the operating cam rotated in interlocked fashion with the operating buttons.
A structure for simplifying the resetting mechanism has also been proposed (for example, refer to “Utility Model Registration No. 2605696 ([0010-0022]), hereinbelow referred to as Patent Literature 3”). In this Patent Literature 3, pressing the reset button moves a return-to-zero hammer, a maneuvering lever, and a return-to-zero transmission hammer, which are always interlocked via the return spring of a battery hold-down plate, and the pressure section of the return-to-zero transmission hammer applies pressure to a heart-cam provided to the chronograph wheel to return the pointers. This continually maintains a state in which the return-to-zero transmission hammer constantly applies pressure to the heart-cam by means of a spring formed on the battery hold-down plate.
When the start/stop button is pressed, the maneuvering lever and the return-to-zero transmission hammer are moved in coordinated fashion by the return spring of the battery hold-down plate disposed along the outer periphery of the movement, and the pressurized state of the heart-cam created by the pressure unit of the return-to-zero transmission hammer is released. The position of the return-to-zero transmission hammer is controlled by means of interlocking with the notches in the spring provided to the battery hold-down plate.
Therefore, the maneuvering lever is also controllably positioned by means of the return-to-zero transmission hammer into a state separated from the start/stop button. When the start/stop button is pressed again, the maneuvering lever and the return-to-zero transmission hammer do not move with the button operation, and the return spring of the battery hold-down plate provided to the outer periphery of the movement next to the start/stop button is connected to the contact point of the circuit substrate, and a switch input is established, and when the button is released, the button alone is returned by the return spring and the switch input is turned off. Thus, the structure allows the start and stop operations to be repeated.
In Patent Literature 2, controlling the positions of the shaft sections of the operating cam makes it possible to control the positions of the operating lever and the return-to-zero transmission hammer that are interlocked with the operation of the start/stop button and the reset button; to stabilize the start, stop, and reset states; and to prevent malfunctioning. However, numerous components are involved, the structure is complicated, and there have also been problems with assembly.
In Patent Literature 3, the maneuvering lever and the return-to-zero transmission hammer are interlocked and switch input is established when the start/stop button is pressed during the start operation, and the maneuvering lever and return-to-zero transmission hammer are not interlocked and the switch input alone is established even if the start/stop button is pressed during the stop operation.
With such a structure, the number of components can be reduced and the configuration can be simplified, but the structure is still such that during the stop operation the buttons are inconvenient to operate because the ON and OFF operations are merely repeated by electrical power, so the buttons tend to be easily pressed, and malfunctions tend to occur.
Such problems are not limited to chronograph timepieces, and timepieces having pointers for displaying time information, temperature, pressure, humidity, and other such information in alarms, timers, and the like have had the same problems.
It will be clear to those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present invention that an improved timepiece is necessary because of the above-mentioned considerations. The present invention meets the requirements of these conventional technologies as well as other requirements, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure hereinbelow.